The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Happy Holidays!

There. I said it. That horrible, terrible, most anti-Christian display of syncretism known to man.

The horror.

Before the the fire is lit under the tar kettle or the knives are put to pillows to produce the wispy goose down for my Yuletide adornment please allow me to explain myself.

In America a few things can be counted on in consideration of the year's closing act. 1) Retail stores will continue to steadily ease the appearance of Christmas decor and music ever closer to the Fourth of July and people will continue to be offended by the phraseology used to wish goodwill during the weeks surrounding the Winter Solstice.

Almost makes one want to switch to "Go fart fire" or maybe "Have a terrible winter". Something like that.

Anyway.

The funny thing is, the person most likely to correct you towards "Merry Christmas" is proportionately just as likely to express "support for Israel", whatever that means.

Which makes me think...either you love Israel or you don't. You can't have it both ways.

Now, while most of the Jewish people I have met appear to harbor no obvious animosity to wreaths, candy canes, Jolly ol' St Nick, O Tannenbaum or even live reenactments of shepherds watching their flocks by night breaking away from the task to welcome the birth of Christ, I think it is ignorant on the part of us, as Christians, to expect them to "Have a Merry Christmas or get on a boat and go back where you came from".

Seriously. They're Jewish. We love Jewish people, right? You know, Jewish people, King David, Elijah, Solomon, Jesus, John, Peter, Paul and a bunch of ladies named Mary. Jewish people.

A pleasant "Happy Holidays" gives a polite inclusion to a group of people that were being persecuted before Jesus celebrated His first Hanukkah. It also includes the Federally-recognized holiday "New Year's Day" as well as "Thanksgiving", which apparently has something to do with pro football, elastic waistbands and Christmas, although there are those that refer to people known as "pilgrims" that founded Macy's or something like that. I'll have to research those claims for an entry next November. Maybe by then I'll have the tar and feathers removed.

Until then, I hope whatever holiday you prefer is as glorious, magnificent, merry and happy as it can possibly be. And SMILE, this is the most wonderful time of the year.

Thoughts on "Recent" Developments

The news is disconcerting.

A man walks into a school and kills a couple dozen people, mostly small children, before taking his own life.

I don't know his name. I haven't seen his face. I don't care to be enlightened to either. He's not someone I care to know about or remember. I'm not sitting in judgement of him. That's not my chair. I just don't want to know him.

Why did this specific incident happen? I don't know.

There will be those who use this event to push their agenda of gun control. There will be those that say this was caused by song lyrics or movies or video games. And still those that think its because there's not enough prayer in school. There's never a deficiency of ignorance in America.

I think the problem lies in our culture. Not the entertainment choices of our culture but in the role we have pushed masculinity into. "Gentlemen" have become the exception, not the rule.

In most cases these acts of senseless violence have been carried out by young men. Often times these young men are outcasts or bullied. The gun represents power that they wield. It would be the same with a knife, a baseball bat or a fertilizer bomb. The motivator is power. The ability to be strong or intimidating because that's what young men are taught they should be.

We don't (as a culture) teach young men about the masculinity of caring for a child, holding a door, demonstrating common courtesy, loving one woman for her whole life, protecting the weak and dozens of other traits that our grandfathers just did because "it's what men do."

Robert E. Lee, no stranger to violence, put it this way:

"The forbearing use of power does not only form a touchstone, but the manner in which an individual enjoys certain advantages over others is a test of a true gentleman.
The power which the strong have over the weak, the employer over the employed, the educated over the unlettered, the experienced over the confiding, even the clever over the silly — the forbearing or inoffensive use of all this power or authority, or a total abstinence from it when the case admits it, will show the gentleman in a plain light.
The gentleman does not needlessly and unnecessarily remind an offender of a wrong he may have committed against him. He cannot only forgive, he can forget; and he strives for that nobleness of self and mildness of character which impart sufficient strength to let the past be but the past. A true man of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others."

That's the difference in a man like Lee and one of these shooters. The difference between protecting and harming. The difference between taking and giving.

The man Lee was describing would never shoot up a school, wouldn't kill his wife, wouldn't bomb a post office, wouldn't fly an civilian airplane into an office building. He uses power justly. He forgives. He moves on.

These are the men we need today. Where are these men?

Style vs Substance

Modern politics have deteriorated at a rapid pace since the introduction of televised coverage. Today appearances are everything. You hear that presidential candidates are more likely to win if they are taller, better looking, a better speaker, blah, blah, blah. It's gotten to the point that you can get probable election projections from TMZ.

To highlight the absurdity of this truth, I wanted to share some folks we'd have missed out on if TV predated the republic.

John Adams. First VP, second President, ambassador extraordinaire, heavily influenced the Declaration of Independence. Short and fat, newspapers of his day called him "His Rotundity". Would have never been elected in this climate.

Thomas Jefferson. First Secretary of State, second VP, ambassador extraordinaire, author of the Declaration of Independence, gifted architect, ok, due to limited space, let's just say that he was the smartest man ever born on this continent. While he stood 6 inches taller than the average man of his day, he was a weak speaker and even refused to speak before Congress, opting to mail his State of the Union addresses to them. He would have never been considered for a party's nomination today.

James Madison. Almost as smart as Jeff...ok, let's not get carried away but the guy WAS brilliant. Father of the Constitution and the only sitting president to ever physically engage an enemy in battle - he fired a cannon at British forces attacking DC. He was 5'4" and about 100 pounds. You do the math.

Alexander H. Stephens. Congressman and governor of Georgia. VP of the CSA, successful attorney and benefactor to numerous college students. He was 5'9" and about 100 pounds. He looked like death eating a soda cracker and reportedly had a shrill, high-pitched voice that could not be heard over a crowd. Not exactly JFK.

Even Abe Lincoln himself once retorted "If I had two faces do you really think I'd be wearing this one?"

I could go on and on. The point is, before we sensationalized politics, people were judged on substance, on issues, on things that mattered. Now people are judged on height, weight, age, "gravitas", skin color, religion, alleged birthplace, whatever.

Who have we missed out on that could have helped our present condition?

How can we expect politicians to take politics seriously when votes are doled out with such superficial standards and at what point do we begin to take candidates seriously based on policy?

The Endorsement 2012

Election year. Nothing quite says "someone please shoot me now" quite like trying to live a normal life during federal level election campaigns.

But, they are a necessary evil so I do participate. Too many men and women have spilled their lives out from Boston Common to Berchtesgaden for me to not cross the road to my polling precinct and cast my vote. I have too much respect for what has been given to me to disregard it.

And yet I see this election as particularly evil.

Barack Obama, who I do not see as a liar - he did what he said he'd do. Anyone surprised by his vision for the size and scope of Washington must have slept through the entirety of 2008. Let's face it. This man is just not a good president. There have been some good moments but he really just is not improving this nation.

Mitt Romney. Massachusetts governor. Successful businessman. Rabid socialist. Running mate from Wisconsin. What part of this appeals to a Georgian? I need something more than "not Obama". Besides, voting for the man behind the Massachusetts healthcare law because you hate Obamacare is like voting for Marx over Lenin because you hate communism.

But there's no other option. Well, not if you listen to Fox, CNN or MSNBC. But if you look on your own, there is in fact more than one person in addition to the media golden boys. You'll see them on your ballot should you choose to not dishonor a multitude of martyrs that gave you that right.

And that brings me to the point of this entry. It is time to announce that All the Biscuits in Georgia which consists of...well...me, has officially endorsed Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party for President of the United States.

This is not to say that AtBiG is in complete agreement with the candidate (incidentally, anyone in complete agreement with me needs to be committed). Rather, it is to say that he is the best available candidate. His policies best reflect the spirit of the Constitution and the original intent of the Union.

And then there is of course the worries that I am, by proxy, voting for Obama. That would be assuming that I ever considered voting for Romney. I'm not voting against Obama (or, for that matter, Romney). I'm voting for Johnson.

But to further settle your fears. What is a worse outcome? 1) Obama wins and a Republican Congress obstructs his every attempt to advance socialism because he's a) a Democrat and b) Obama OR 2) Romney wins and a Republican Congress willingly assists him in advancing socialism because he's a Republican. Think it can't happen? Ever hear of the Patriot Act? So, in reality, we are better off with Obama than we are with Romney and we'd be even better off with Johnson than Obama.

Checks and balances. You have to look at the whole picture.

In the end, this endorsement means nothing, except for me. I am not attempting to sway one single vote (although I did point someone in the direction of Jill Stein the other day). You have to weigh your own options and vote your own conscience. Regardless, please vote. Then the robo calls will cease...at least until next time.

Summer Rambling.

I first noticed it last night. I'm sure it wasn't the first night but as I stepped into the kitchen to refill my coffee mug the dogs had that look in their eyes. "Y'all need to go outside?" Amazing how two dogs can understand English better than many Americans. They headed for the door and I opened it. That's when it hit me. The "wah-unh, wah-unh, wah-unh" wafting from the trees like it does this time every year.

Dang. Summer is dying.

I have been able to keep hope alive even when my wife and kids returned to their school schedules. Football practices started and the marching band could be heard tooking around over at the school. The mornings started getting cooler and Halloween candy appeared in the stores. Still I had delusions of grandeur that summer would make a roaring comeback.

But the cicadas don't lie. When they start singing it does something to the trees. It does something to the sky. It even makes the sunshine turn in early and sleep in a little later. Life gets hectic again and...

I still don't really want to think about it.

I don't really have a right to be upset. For me, summer began in mid February. I had my bare feet on the St. Augustine grass in Orange County, Florida, working off some stress from an unusual start to a magical vacation. While my friends and coworkers were freezing their butts off in unusually cold weather, I was riding Splash Mountain and Kali River Rapids.

And it continued. We hiked incredibly beautiful trails in northeast Georgia. We saluted our heroes at the U.S.S. Alabama and the old Confederate capitol. We rested our souls in the sand and sun of the Alabama coast. We talked history and geology atop Stone Mountain. And there was so many other great times. I just hate to see it go.

Don't feel too sorry for me. Football is just around the corner. There should be some good food, good games and maybe even some good hiking through the fall foliage. A slice of pumpkin bread and cup of apple cider and I'll be ok.

And then it will get cold. Football will come to an end and some guy in Atlanta will use the "s-word" and everyone will buy all the milk and bread. I'll get nostalgic for fall and...you get the picture.

Nothing to it but to get ready for next summer. Now, where did I put that Disney brochure?.

The winner is...Freedom...by a nose.

Election year. Fun times.

I'm sure that I'm not the only one in this nation right now feeling inundated by the words "liberal", "conservative" and "moderate". The monikers are stamped on this politician and that one over there too. They label themselves, each other, voters, states, ethnic groups, races, religions - you name it- with a big rubber stamp. They're buzz words. That's about the extent of it. They simply designate what areas of our lives that each group want the government to have too much power over.

"Liberals" want too much control over your money, your right to earn it and what you can and can't do with it. They want to make sure that none of your honestly earned private property harms any allegedly endangered flowers, rats, dung beetles or (God forbid) bats. They also want to make sure that everyone, regardless of willingness to produce anything, never misses a check or an episode of Jerry Springer.

"Conservatives" want too much control over your personal private life. They want to say who you can and can't marry, what you can do with your own body and take every step to make sure that you and I are not "terrorists" (whatever that word means this week) and that no one gets on an airplane with fingernail clippers...unless they're in a sandwich.

"Moderates" are too weaselly to have a spine so they just agree with both sides to let the government have whatever power it needs to be too powerful in every area of your life.

The thing these groups have in common is that they believe that the power to make all these decisions can only be seated in Washington. It is as if they don't even realize that there are 50 states in this Union and that every single one of them have their own capital, complete with legislature, chief executive and court system.

So I have to ask, what are these institutions for? What purpose does state government serve? Why do we bother operating large bureaucracies that are only allowed to do what Big Brother tells them to?

I want to look (briefly) into history for the answer to this. I want to mention the Articles of Confederation. I know, I know, there goes that delusional Georgia boy carrying on about the Lost Cause and those slavery-crazed rednecks and their misguided rebellion again. Hang on...not that rebellion. Our founding fathers began composing this document in 1776 and the approved version was sent to the states for ratification in late 1777. It was ratified by all 13 states by 1781. The Articles served as the law of the land in the United States of America from March 1, 1781 until it was replaced by the Constitution as ratified on June 21 1788, nearly 12 years after the Declaration of Independence.

The United States fought a successful war as an assembling of rag-tag backwoods colonies against the most powerful nation on Earth, perhaps the most powerful ever on Earth. They lobbied major world powers of the time to gain support, funds, supplies, etc to help the war effort. They cooperated (admittedly with some difficulty) with each other to bring success in the war effort. They fought the war for a year before declaring independence and then fought until 1781 and the war did not officially end until 1783. They did this with little, if any, central government. The states did this. And we are told in school that the Articles of Confederation were "not strong enough". Eight years of war. Many of which with no binding document and a few under the Articles. And it worked. You do the math.

My biggest point in this is that all 50 states are in this together but at the same time, we hinder each other. Our problems are at the Federal level. We can't mind our own business. We see an issue and think "the government needs to do something about this". Never the state government, always Washington. Gay marriage, abortion, education, welfare, transportation, the environment, energy, all of these are micromanaged (or attempted to be) by the Feds and all of them are dismal failures. They aren't Federal issues but we can't stand the thought of some other state doing something we don't agree with. We can't pick our own boogers. We have to shove our fingers up someone else's nose.

What is the result? We stay mad all the time. All 50 states have small nostrils and big fingers. So, in our pain,  we use our other finger to point and pass blame elsewhere. We call names, we fight, we sue. We have to realize that Washington isn't really protecting us (and couldn't even if they really wanted to). We need freedom. That was the point of this Union to begin with. We need to go to our own states, pass our own laws, watch each other's backs but mind our own business. We need to take our finger out of our neighbor's nose, fold it down and then raise the one next to it towards Washington. After all, they're the ones egging us on to pad their own pockets and justify their own existence.

This nation was born in Antifederalism and only that principle can lead us back to freedom.

By the way, I'd wash my hands if I were you.

Out of the Blue

Frustration. That's the only word I can think of. And I mean the "I was going to get my haircut tomorrow but I pulled it all out" kind of frustration.

I have found some serious peace in avoiding the topics of church and religion in my writings lately and my hair has grown thick and lush. My stress levels have dropped and I had recently approached a mentality that some people might describe as sanity.

Then another teacher was suspended for reading a book to kids. Then there was a similar incident that hit a little closer to home. And finally a blog post I read today:

http://donmilleris.com/2012/03/21/the-christian-movie-establishment-vs-blue-like-jazz/

I can think of very few messages right now that could be more needed by the modern evangelical movement in America than the one portrayed in the movie Blue Like Jazz. I cannot think of one evangelical Christian in any corner of the United States that does not need to see this movie.

As the rolls of churches plummet as people pass on or, as in my case, walk away, there seems to be no introspection in the movement. There is no intention of changing the very behavior that drives us from the church. There is never that moment of looking into the mirror and asking, honestly, "what are we doing wrong?"

As for the misrepresentation of what is and is not in the trailer for the movie, you may view it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GOglQgyxYkI

And the context is so very important. Because what our young protagonist faces in this movie is real. It is not the milquetoast world of Christian cinema. These are real problems that real people (LIKE MYSELF) are facing out here in the real world, with real doubts, real fears and real characters. We aren't facing the pliable villains and Velveeta story lines that show up on big screens at churches all over this nation. We are up to our necks in reality, searching for God in a world growing ever darker while you face your giants and fireproof yourselves.

And then comes something like this. A chance to bridge the void, to reach those of us that look at the church and say "Hey, I saw one of these before." And, like ol' Mick Dundee seeing "I Love Lucy" come up on the screen say "Yep. that's what I saw." Click. You turn away, unwilling to look at yourself and seek a real answer to the question "I wonder why he/she won't come to church with me?"

Really, it's ok. Don't watch the movie. Blackball the people that made it. Don't invite us to watch THIS movie with you. Just knock on our door again, offer us the "plan of salvation" again and invite us to your Sunday school class again.

Who needs hair anyway?

To Err on the Side of Liberty

"A man with a clear conscience can sleep all night"

I've heard that from various sources and it is exactly what I'm about to do. You see, the Georgia Primary was today. "Super Tuesday" they call it. In this primary I got to do something that I'm probably going to get used to. I voted my conscience.

In the general election of 2008 I voted for John McCain. I chose him simply because I knew, even then, exactly how bad Barack Obama was going to be for this country. however, if I'm honest, I literally held my nose with my left hand as my right index finger (come to think of it, it might have been the bird) tapped the square on the touch screen before me. In reality, I knew McCain wouldn't be much better.

But today I had a choice. I could pick from the polypropylene smile of Mitt Romney, the self-proclaimed "underdog" named Rick Santorum, the Quasi-Georgian Newt Gingrich or I could vote my conscience. And so today I smiled, breathed deep through both nostrils and proudly tapped the square next to Ron Paul's name.

I'm one of the 6.5% of Georgian voters that did so. If we're honest, we'll admit that our guy was not going to win the state and wouldn't come close. And I can't speak for all of the others but at least for me, it was exhilarating to vote FOR someone, instead of AGAINST someone else. Today I can say that if I was in the wrong, at least I erred on the side of Liberty. And that is my new political ethos.

And now it's time for bed. I can sleep well knowing that I didn't vote for a charlatan, a socialist, a phony, an "extremist theocrat" (to use his own words about others) or Newt Gingrich. I voted for the right man at the right time. I stood with a finite minority in doing so but I know that the continued erosion of Liberty is not on my hands this time.

Goodnight.

Gentlemen

Observations.

As I have gotten older I have developed a habit, be it good or evil, to go through a cycle. First is to notice the faults in someone else and then to see how that fault reflects on my own life. It didn't show much in my earlier writings. Life has a way of changing us, Maturing us or breaking us down. Not sure which is happening to me yet but hopefully I have time to figure it out.

All that being said, something is eating at me.

Raised in the South, by Southerners, I was always instructed to be a gentleman. I was in college before I truly realized that the idea of a "gentleman" by strict definition implies a social order. I was not raised in the quasi-aristocratic class of the Southern Gentleman. That is not what I am trying to communicate. My definition is more about handling oneself with class, manners, civility. Specifics I remember growing up - opening a door for someone, especially a lady. If I was in a store with my mother and a lady dropped her keys, I was taught that it was only natural to pick them up for her. And I never sat in a chair if there was a single female person that was not seated, even in my own home.

Now I'm well aware of the women's lib movement. And I'm certainly not one of the chauvinist types. And the things I have mentioned are minor gestures, no doubt. But they are things I have tried to pass on to my sons. I've tried to set an example for them and I have to say that their strides in this area has made this dad proud.

But what is eating at me is the lack of such conduct in our society today. I was disturbed to see several instances while on vacation this past week.

The instances that bothered me most were young, able bodied men, in their 20s sitting in seats on the monorail while ladies, children and even elderly people stood. There was an instance I missed where my wife was run into by a young man, reportedly in his teens, who offered no apology, no acknowledgement, no anything.

But the proud moments were seeing my sons showing their gentlemanly side. They opened doors, offered "please", "thank you", "excuse me" and others. My sons stood on the platform until any ladies had entered the trains.

I don't expect some rebirth of chivalry. I'm not even asking for that. And to be honest, this has offered me an opportunity for self-examination. I see areas that need to be tweaked or rebuilt. It challenged me to consider my own shortcomings as a gentleman, as a husband, as a dad. Because we often detest qualities in others that we can find within ourselves and far too often that same sneer you send across the train can be found staring back at you from a mirror.

In the long run, the idea comes back to one simple truism that can be found, in some form, in all of the world's major religions. In mine it reads like this, "As you would that men would do unto you, do you even so unto them." It means I'm responsible for the way I act and the way my sons are taught to act. It means that I have to act first before expecting another to do the same. It means I have to set myself aside and be the example of the way a gentleman should behave. I still have work to do, no doubt - but I'm getting there. And my sons are getting there. And if three men become finer gentlemen than myself, that is a three-fold return on the investment.

Not too shabby. Regardless of how deteriorated the status of gentlemen has become, 1:3 is a ratio that gives me hope for the future.

Ramblings of an Individual

So it's been a while.

Oh, don't get me wrong, my fingers have not lost contact with the keyboard or any such thing as that. On the contrary, I have been writing quite a bit. The format changed and none of it has been public but I have been writing just the same.

The fact is, I have sort of been writing a book. I say "sort of" as there is no guarantee that this book is going anywhere or that it will be read by anyone. And I'm ok with that. Besides, while that part of the story is pertinent to this post, it isn't what the post is about.

Something has struck me during the process of a plot thickening and characters developing as this story continues to thread itself together. And then tonight, during the Super Bowl the ad starring Clint Eastwood left something with me as well. So many things have happened lately to keep me coming back to this point. And for those that keep up with such things the beginning soundtrack of this entry is U2, Where the Streets Have No Name.

The point is individuality.

The factor that is bringing this out is thinking of the greatness of a nation. What makes that nation great? We are told stories of old - great kings and queens that led powerful nations and did great things. Inventors, explorers, soldiers, sailors, marines. But we hear about the nations - Great Britain, France, Spain, The Roman Empire and most recently, the United States. We see the fruits of the greatness - Global colonization, domination of Europe, discovery of the New World, ruling the known world and the world's lone "superpower".

Who did these things? What made the nations great? Some of it was being in the right place at the right time, But most importantly, that claim belongs to the individuals that worked to make the nation great. Governments don't create wealth and have nothing they don't take from the people. That truth is universal, regardless of the type of government system a country has.  What makes the country great is people.

In an American election year, we hear stories of every sort of group you can imagine. People lobbying for the middle class, the women vote, the black vote, the Latino vote, the union vote, the evangelical vote, the Catholic vote, etc, etc, etc. Everyone is lumped into one group or another. Usually 8 or ten, give or take a dozen. It's easy to lose track of who you are.

People look at me funny sometimes when I say something about a particular topic, as if perhaps my stance doesn't exactly fit my status in the short, blond, fireman, Southern-writer-wanna-be, Gen-X, Christian white dude with poor eyesight demographic. Most people aren't expecting me to fall in the Sam demographic - which is funny, considering that I'm Sam, regardless of any of those other things. I was still Sam when I was a 145 pound high school sophomore trying to gain weight to play football, back before a medical condition warped my corneas. I'll be Sam when my blond hair is gray and I sit on the front porch griping about how loud the neighbors kids are and talking about things "back in my day".

Rambling.

So, think of the things that made America great. The light bulb over my head is a direct descendant of the one invented by Nikola Tesla, (Yes, I know what your teacher told you but remember, Columbus' teachers told him the world was flat.) The iPod playing this Driving n Cryin beside me is a distant cousin of the radio invented by that same Serbian mastermind - he'd tell you that Marconi was a donkey. Besides Nikola, there were other great men and women, most of whom you have never heard of and probably never will. Some got up every morning and went to work on production lines. Some rode steel girders hundreds of feet into the air. Some worked as slaves in fields of cotton, rice, sugar cane and tobacco. Some came from China, Ireland and Poland only to be derided for their "identity", their demographic.

And yet, like myself, you always find someone whose political beliefs, personal goals, worldview, religious convictions, you name it, doesn't quite fit their demographic. These people have stepped out and taken a path on their own. They are not held in the pen of their demographic, they are an individual. If we are honest with ourselves, we all are. And in an age where diversity has become such a buzzword, how can we not celebrate the ultimate unit of diversity - the individual?

And yet, look at the comments on the updates from almost any group on Facebook and you'll see epithet after slur of every imaginable combination of letters and punctuation marks. We have lost our ability to reason, and on some level, to be individuals. We have chosen sides, and whether it's politics, religion, sports, or basket weaving, we're right and they're wrong and if you disagree then you are a...well, you get the picture. Let's just say it has deteriorated from logic and reason...deteriorated is not really a good choice of words...I think it is more like devolved as it has lost its humanity and only passion and ignorance remain.

I am reminded that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams shared a trait with Abraham Lincoln and Alexander H. Stephens - both pairs of men were staunch political adversaries...and close personal friends. Such things were possible back in the 18th and 19th centuries. Judging by the modern discourse these men would have each thought the other might be capable of copulating with his own mother or that his intelligence quotient was not quite 50. One might even suggest that the other enjoy a meal of excrement and then go to live with Jesus. But somehow these men could set those differences aside and allow each other to be individuals, realizing that there is humanity inside the people we disagree with just as there is in those we agree with - just as there is within ourselves.

So it goes.

I feel a little rusty at this point. It is difficult to speak your own mind after filtering it through fictional characters for such a time. But hopefully there is more to come, both here and there. Until next time...